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Educ Psychol Rev (2015) 27:365370 DOI 10.1007/s10648-015-9333-3
INTRODUCTION
Paul Chandler1 & Andr Tricot2
Published online: 28 July 2015# Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015
Abstract This special issue has its genesis in the recent establishment of the Early Start Research Institute at the University of Wollongong in Australia, which aims to transform lives of young people through high-quality early year education supported and informed by high-quality research and practice. The contributions to this special issue are based on a united approach to the brain and body, which holds that learning processes and body movements are inextricably bound. The mix of theoretical papers, intervention studies, and commentary in this issue indicate that part- and whole-body movements can positively affect childrens learning performance, especially when movements are infused into the classroom and integrated into the learning task.
Keywords Embodied cognition . Human movement . Physical exercise . Learning . Young children
This special issue has its genesis in the establishment of the Early Start Research Institute at the University of Wollongong in Australia in 2015. The main goal of the $44-million Early Start project is to transform lives of young people through high-quality early year education supported and informed by high-quality research and practice. There is overwhelming worldwide evidence for substantive, positive long-term effects of early educational intervention on cognition, social-emotional development, academic achievement, and social behavior. The potential return to society on investments in early childhood education is high and more substantial than investments in later years of education (e.g., Barnett and Masse 2007). Substantial research also demonstrates that the effects of quality early childhood interventions reap the highest returns in disadvantaged communities (e.g., Heckman 2006; Heckman and
* Paul Chandler [email protected]
Andr Tricot
1 Early Start Research Institute, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong,
NSW 2522, Australia
2 CLLE Institute, University of Toulouse, Antonio Machado, 31 058 Toulouse Cedex, France
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366 Educ Psychol Rev (2015) 27:365370
Masterov 2007) but only for high-quality intervention programs that have support for...